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Today's assessment question is also from Section 1: Database objects and Programming Methods (13%). Specifically, it tests this objective: * Your ability to identify the different database objects that are available with DB2 UDB. Given the following CREATE TABLE statement: CREATE TABLE tab1 (empid INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY, name CHAR(50), dept CHAR(3)) Which of the operations will cause an error to be generated? A. INSERT INTO tab1 VALUES (DEFAULT, 'Jagger', 'E01') B. INSERT INTO tab1 VALUES (1, 'Jagger', 'E01') C. INSERT INTO tab1... [More]

Today's assessment question is also from Section 1: Database objects and Programming Methods (13%). Specifically, it tests this objective: * Your ability to identify the more common privileges used when developing or running DB2 UDB applications. The FINANCE application contains static SQL and issues the following statements: SELECT name,id FROM prod.employee UPDATE prod.dept SET dept=dept+1 INSERT INTO prod.dept VALUES(:id,:name) Assuming a user can connect to the database, which of the following privileges must be granted to the user so... [More]

First, let's look at the intended audience for the test as well its structure. The target audience is a database developer who has an in-depth knowledge of: * all common programming tasks * embedded SQL programming, ODBC/CLI programming, or Java programming There are 63 multiple choice questions on the test and you are required to get a score of 57% or better to pass. The following 7 sections are on the test: * Database objects and Programming Methods (13%) * Data Manipulation (26%) * Embedded SQL Programming (11%) * ODBC/CLI... [More]

I've heard that the very popular DB2 assessment exams are still free through Self Test Software. Register to take the exams via this link: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/cert/assessment.html Of course, they won't be free for long! I know this isn't happy news for anyone, but the exams are very, very popular, so we are unable to maintain them as free for the time being. The fee that will be charged is low at $10 per try, but I have been granted permission to give tips through my blog. What I plan to do is to post an actual... [More]

A search on dWorks for 'Content Manager' resulted in 4223 hits! I have excellent news for all those trained in using DB2 Content Manager V8.3. A new certification exam has been developed and recently released. Here are the details. IBM Certified Solution Designer DB2 Content Manager V8.3 Objective: Enable database professionals to prove their competency on the industry most advance database technology to solve the critical business issue of managing and integrating all forms of information, including scanned images, audio, video and... [More]

Many children are scheduled to go back to school after labor day, so with all the 'back to school' sales, and the approaching fall season (new clothes required?), many people feel that September is the best month to make significant changes in their lives. One article I read this weekend stated that September is the season of change, especially for women and that 'September Resolutions' are becoming as common as 'New Year's Resolutions'. If you are feeling the need to make some changes, consider upgrading your skills. The DB2 Version 8... [More]

For the first time in the history of the DB2 certification program, we created an upgrade exam to help those certified as a DBA for Version 7 quickly recertify as a DBA for Version 8. Exam 706, the DB2 UDB V8.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Database Administration Upgrade Exam , has 30 questions that are related to DB2 UDB Version 8 ONLY. The DB2 Version 7 Certification Exams were wildly popular, so the idea was that we could help all those people recertify very easily with a half priced exam, but it didn't work out that way at all! Our DB2... [More]

I hope that anyone who reads articles on dWorks understands that DB2 runs on multiple platforms. A couple of months ago, I was surprised to find a large number of attendees at a data warehousing conference who still think of DB2 as a database that runs ONLY on the mainframe! Of course DB2 has servers that run on the mainframe, including s/390, z/OS, VM, VSE, and midrange systems such as iseries or OS/400. But it also runs on Linux and UNIX such as AIX, HP-UX, and Solaris. And Windows! (Clients exist for all platforms as well.) Most of the... [More]

I just read an article about Microsoft revamping their certification program for the next version of SQL Server. It seems that they are making the exams more closely tied to job roles and are making three distinct paths: one for administrators, one for developers and one for business intelligence. They are also creating shorter and simpler paths to certification... hmmmm seems to me that this is exactly what DB2 has been offering to people since DB2 Version 2 when Grant Hutchison originally launched the certification program. Here's the... [More]

In the past 7 years, I've met many people who have taken and passed one or more DB2 certification exam. I like to chat with people, so I usually ask them to tell me if they see benefits to passing an exam. I also meet with many people who are reluctant to take an exam and must convince them of the benefits. I'll put a few of my findings in this post, but I hope that I hear from people if they agree or disagree! People who are reluctant to take a certification exam are usually reluctant due to fear. Fear of failure, fear of taking a test,... [More]

I'm not sure how many people from the z/OS platform will read this BLOG, but since this is one of the many products I support in terms of skills, I'll add it here. I still find our z/OS certification program to be a well kept secret, so if you know people who support this platform, do them a favour and tell them about it! To get certified as a Database Administrator for DB2 on z/OS , you must pass two exams: Exam 700 DB2 V8.1 Family Fundamentals, and Exam 702 DB2 V8.1 for z/OS Database Administration. To prepare for Exam 700 , you have a... [More]

Hi Everyone, I proctor exams for IBM employees who reside in Toronto and am constantly asked questions about how one should prepare to take the exams. I've put together the following information and thought that you might find it useful as well. How to Prepare to Pass a DB2 Universal Database Certification Exam 1. Read the exam objectives. http://www.ibm.com/certify lists the objectives for every IBM certification exam. Read these carefully as each question on the exam links directly back to one or more of these objectives! (That's a huge... [More]